Labour must 'abandon plan' to place 83 asylum seekers in £250k homes after GB News reveals Home Office ban, says local MP

Local MP Mark Pritchard spoke to GB News immediately after the Home Secretary confirmed migrants were banned from new-build accommodation

Local MP Mark Pritchard spoke to GB News immediately after the Home Secretary confirmed migrants were banned from new-build accommodation

Labour must "abandon plans" to place 83 asylum seekers at a new-build development and release an immediate public statement on the Stoke Heath site, local MP Mark Pritchard has told GB News.

Mr Pritchard, who was first elected as the MP for The Wrekin in 2005, put pressure on Shabana Mahmood immediately after the Home Secretary confirmed asylum seekers were banned from new-build accommodation.

Speaking to The People's Channel, Mr Pritchard said: "With so many empty public buildings available, where asylum seekers could be housed, and with so many of my constituents struggling to find suitable rental housing in their own local villages and towns, a ban on migrants being allowed to move into new-builds, would be a late but welcome development.

"The Government now needs to abandon plans to put asylum seekers into Stoke Heath's new build housing."

Writing on social media a few hours later, Mr Pritchard added: "A Home Office Minister needs to make an immediate public statement confirming Stoke Heath new-build houses will no longer be used to house asylum seekers – and the Government will stop further asylum placements into the Stoke Heath community."

Shropshire's Stoke Heath development had been dubbed "Migrant Street" after 21 smart new-build homes had been earmarked for asylum seekers.

Outraged locals last night fumed about being lied to about the plans and vowed to fight against the scheme.

However, the Home Office told GB News earlier tonight that new processes introduced earlier this year would mean new-build sites are no longer considered.

A Home Office spokesman told The People's Channel: "New houses should never house asylum seekers.

"Earlier this year, the Home Secretary introduced robust processes to ensure new-build sites like Stoke Heath can never be considered again."

GB News understands that the Stoke Heath development pre-dated the new processes introduced by Ms Mahmood earlier this year.

Ms Mahmood's measures clarified the criteria for sites considered via this process, specifically drawing out factors which are known to exacerbate focus on sites or potentially increase social tensions

The Home Office's statement to GB News was released after residents in Stoke Heath alleged one migrant family had already moved into one of the properties.

It has not yet been confirmed whether Ms Mahmood's ban will mean asylum seekers are removed or relocated from the Stoke Heath site.

Ms Mahmood was alerted about local concerns last week when West Mercia Police & Crime Commissioner John Campion penned a 338-word letter to the Home Secretary.

Mr Campion said: "Stoke Heath is a small, rural village with a settled population of just a few hundred people.

"It has no significant infrastructure in respect of shops or transport. For example, the nearest bus stop is a 30-minute walk from the village.

"There are also concerns that existing local services such as doctors' surgeries and schools are simply not able to accommodate such a large percentage increase in the local population and the level of demand that inevitably comes with that."

Labour is looking for alternative accommodation sites as part of its push to end the use of asylum hotels.

The Home Office confirmed it intends to use three more ex-military barracks to house small boat migrants while also reaching capacity at RAF Wethersfield and Crowborough.

Official data compiled by the Home Office showed 20,885 asylum seekers were still being housed in hotels as of March this year, down from a peak of 56,000 in September 2023.

Despite closing more than 30 asylum hotels, Labour continues to grapple with the impact of the small boats crisis.

A staggering 76,535 migrants have crossed the Channel since Sir Keir Starmer came to power in July 2024, making his record the worst of any Prime Minister since the crisis started in 2018.

Meanwhile, 11,821 migrants completed the perilous 21-mile journey in the first six months of 2026.